So I finally cried uncle last night and gave up a run. I only made it around the corner of my block when I decided that my 9 mile run just wasn’t going to happen. It felt like I was running on stumps instead of legs. All I could manage was an awkward trot and a very painful one at that. If it was just pain in my legs that I felt I think I would have been ok, however, my form was very poor and resembled nothing like running. I finally had to decide that discretion was the better part of valor and turn back home.

Once inside I sulked on my couch for a good half hour. I sat there fully dressed in my winter gear thinking that perhaps if I gave the ibuprofen I took just before I went out a longer chance to take effect, that perhaps I may be able to salvage the run after all. I knew in my heart though that I needed to be off my legs. I think part of the problem was taking several days off from running when I went on my ski trip Sunday – Wednesday. I think my legs start to heal, but that when I just pick up running again my legs rebel and say what the fuck are you doing? We are trying to heal over here. Damn, I really think that amputation is a viable alternative at times. I haven’t read anything else that seems to offer a quick fix for shin splints.

So as I was saying, I sulked on the couch for about an hour, while my wife insisted I go get on my bike in the basement. I’ve been feeling very depressed lately, which is no doubt due in part to my lack of exercise for the past 4 days. I start to feel really bad if I don’t get a regular fix in. Missing workouts can also put me in a downward spiral as the longer I go without exercise, the worse I feel and the less I feel like exercising.

But anyway, I finally managed to get myself into the basement and onto my bike. I was pleasantly surprised to see my legs reacting well to the work and I easily and quickly ticked off two hours while spinning. I entertained myself while riding by chatting with friends on Twitter and on IM and watching movies on TV. I felt good and actually enjoyed the sweaty workout.

I don’t know when I will try to run again. It was both legs that were painful and I think they are crying for rest. Either that or amputation. I’ll try for another run this weekend.

I switched my long run from Sunday to today since I am leaving for a ski trip tomorrow morning and won’t have a chance to run long. I think this is just as well as today was beautiful and the forecast for tomorrow is not as good. I decided to run along the Brooklyn water front, which is a run that I’ve wanted to do for a long time.

I headed out from my house near Prospect Park and headed into Sunset Park. I ran along 2nd Avenue, which is still paved with Cobblestones and has trolly/train tracks running through it. I am fascinated by this area. I can imagine it 50 years ago and around the time of WWII. I could just feel all the activity happening in all these waterfront warehouses and all the train activity. This area used to be so vibrant with commerce and you can feel the ghosts of the past with every step through the neighborhood. Here is a picture of me looking into an alleyway of a warehouse that used to accept freight cars for the loading and unloading of cargo. There are many buildings like this along the way.

From Sunset Park, I continued up 2nd Avenue and ran into Bay Ridge. I went past Owls Head Park and ran onto the 69th Street Pier. The pier offers fantastic views of downtown Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty. For me this view will be forever scarred. I can’t get used to seeing it without the Twin Towers. But life moves on and so did I. From there it was along the bike/running path that runs right along the water and underneath the Verrazano Bridge. I stopped at the bridge to admire the view and take a couple of pictures. The biggest shame about the VZ is that they built it without a pedestrian lane. Running over that bridge is great and something I only get to do when I am in the NYC Marathon.

Once past the VZ Bridge you can see the landmarks of Coney Island coming into view. My route was also taking me past the neighborhood where I grew up. I was able to see the building where I grew up across of the Belt Parkway. Many years ago the area I was running past was an illegal dump. I’ll never forget exploring in this dump one day when I came across a pair of sawed off horse legs surrounded by a bunch of losing Off Track Betting tickets. The apparent meaning was very clear to me, but that was almost 30 years ago and there was no sign of that now. I just kept going and made my way into Coney Island.

My first stop into Coney Island was on the bridge that crosses the Coney Island Creek. Years ago this bridge was a drawbridge and unfortunately, I never got to see it being used in my lifetime. When I was a kid you could still see fish swimming in the water, but I don’t think anything has lives in it for 3 decades.

From there is was into the heart of Coney Island and onto the boardwalk. I ran out over the pier and took a picture of the soon to be obliterated Astroland Amusement Park. I also got a picture of me underneath Brooklyn’s Eiffel Tower, the famous Coney Island Parachute Jump. I never got to ride on this, but I understand my parents did before I was born. I then ran the rest of the boardwalk into Brighton Beach and then took to the roads to run into Manhattan Beach. It had been years since I was in Manhattan Beach, having not gone there since and old friend moved out in his own. I ran to the end of Manhattan Beach, which is essentially the end of Coney Island and then headed back towards Sheepshead Bay. I ran over the small footbridge that crosses from Manhattan Beach into Sheepshead Bay, took a left and made my way back towards Ocean Parkway.

On my way to Ocean Parkway, I encountered what I believe to be the largest NYC rat I’ve ever seen. Fortunately it was quite dead, having been struck down by a car. At least I think this thing is a rat. You can judge for yourself with this picture.

Once I got back to ocean parkway I had run about 15 miles. I knew the trip back to Prospect Park would be another 5, plus one additional loop of the park would get me to my goal of 24 miles. It was getting late in the day, so I just put my camera away and ran a nice tempo pace all the way back to the park. I covered an uneventful lap in Prospect Park and exited it just as my wife was calling to inquire as to my whereabouts. Fortunately, I was able to tell her I was just a block away and would be home within a minute or two.

It was a very successful run and capped off a 7 day period that saw me running over 61 miles.

Here are some other pics from the day:

Running from Manhattan Beach into Sheepshead Bay

Shoot the Freak on the Coney Island Boardwalk